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Moudre on Track For Tilt at 2011 Melbourne Cup

Moudre is set to launch his assault on the 2011 Melbourne spring carnival when he resumes in the PB Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

Moudre has not raced since finishing ninth behind Shocking in the Australian Cup back in March, however after two trials, trainer Ciaron Maher is confident the gelding is ready to produce his best.

“He went well (In the trial). Craig (Williams) rode him but he didn’t have the blinkers on and I didn’t want him to have a had trial,” Maher said.

“He’s a good horse and he has form around Americain. He’s had a good spell and is looking really good.”

Despite running a long head second behind eventual winner Americain in the Geelong Cup, Moudre was unable to secure a start in the 2010 Melbourne Cup, however Maher is confident his stable star can make it there this time.

Moudre’s omission from the 2010 Melbourne Cup was one of the biggest controversies of last year’s spring especially considering the form Moudre had shown in the lead up.

He won an Open Handicap over 1410m at Flemington towards the end of August last year, and suddenly he was being tipped as one of the horses to watch in the spring. He backed that up with a win in the Hocking Stuart Memorial over 1700m, however that’s when the bad luck hit.

Due to his preference to be ridden cold, Moudre is always going to need a bit of luck in his runs, however the only luck he could find last year was bad luck.

He was third when held up in the straight in the Naturalism at Caulfield, fourth in the Herbert Power Stakes, second in the Geelong Cup and fourth in the Lexus on Victorian Derby day. A win in any of those four starts would have all but assured him a spot in the Melbourne Cup.

He did however pick up a feature win, by claiming the Group Three Queens Cup at Flemington on Emirates Stakes Day.

Maher confirmed that Moudre will tackle a similar campaign to last year, with the ultimate goal being a tilt at the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Moudre is currently being quoted as a $31.00 chance in Caulfield Cup markets, while he is paying the same price for a win in the 2011 Melbourne Cup.

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